


Fliers

by TheBrcklayer



Category: Transformers Generation One
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst and Humor, Angst with a Happy Ending, Awkward Conversations, Awkward Tension, Awkwardness, Comfort/Angst, Deviates From Canon, Dinobots, Fluff and Angst, Frenemies, Friendship, Friendship between Enemies, Gen, MedicSwoop, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Moral Ambiguity, Other Canon Cameos - Freeform, Seekers, Unsure Thundercracker
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-08
Packaged: 2021-01-25 04:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21350293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheBrcklayer/pseuds/TheBrcklayer
Summary: “You no angel yourself,” Swoop pointed out. “Me think you what humans term as a Tsundere!”“WHAT!?!” Thundercracker gaped sounding a little bit too much like Starscream for his liking. “...That’s completely ridiculous. Completely and utterly ridiculous!”“Swoop also know another human saying. Denial is not only river in Egypt.”“...You know, with the benefit of hindsight,” Thundercracker sighed. “Trying to tempt you to the Decepticon side was a stupid-ass decision. You’re far too smitten with Earth.”“Well, me Swoop did grow up here…” Swoop replied sounding rather smug again. “But you Thundercracker seem to be appropriating Earth for yourself, given you quote great American president Abraham Lincoln back then.”“Well, I will admit this planet does have its merits…” Thundercracker grumbled in defeat finally swallowing his pride. “Even if this mudball is still not worth all that much…”----------------------Swoop and Thundercracker, trapped in a canyon with no way to contact their respective factions.Both have their own personal doubts and both have no one to talk to about them.So why not their enemy?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Fliers

Swoop honestly didn’t know what the Deceptions were after this time, not that he really cared. The pterosaur honestly had lost track of Decepticon plots about 5 to 10 schemes back. He was sure it involved stealing energy.

Because of course it did, what else did the Decepticons ever think about? 

Swoop never gave much thought to the constant energy siphoning plans of the Decepticons, all he knew was that they were stealing from the humans and that was the end of it. 

Not to say he was dumb, far from it, as Swoop was actually possibly the most intelligent of the Dinobots. Granted, this wasn’t saying much as both Sludge and Slag were about as smart as a bag of rocks but Swoop was a different sort. 

Ducking behind cover, Swoop fired his rifle and smirked to himself when he nailed Skywarp in the shoulder, causing the Seeker to go down. Not offlined, but out of the fight for at least the time being. He was a medic, and therefore knew just where to hit a bot to cause the most damage.

He thanked Ratchet for this knowledge. Swoop didn’t want to consider himself a sadist, -although like any Dinobot he enjoyed a good scrap- as he wanted a battle over with as quickly as possible. 

Swoop frowned, he was sure that Skywarp should have been able to teleport out of the way of that shot. Maybe he’d been damaged, something in his internals disabling his unique power. 

Whatever the case, that was one less Decepticon to worry about. 

“Now me Swoop just have to remember there’s a baker’s dozen more to go…” the Dinobot uttered. “Me Swoop be thankful the Decepticons haven’t figured out how to create drones here on Earth!”

Swoop remembered certain stories that he had been told by some of the older Autobots like his ‘father’ Wheeljack. Dropkick Drones they called them, just ordinary trucks on the outside but in reality mass-produced Decepticons with no sparks and very little in the way of brain power.

Swoop let out a yelp of fear as he saw the massive cannon of Blitzwing’s tank mode being aimed his direction. The triplechanger had him dead in his sights. Swoop dived to the ground below as the massive boulder he’d been hiding behind was blown to rubble.

“...Me Swoop hate today,” the dinobot grumbled before his eyes widened as he saw the tank trundling towards him. Metal rumbled and groaned as the treads flattened the very earth beneath them. The turret’s gunbarrel gleamed in the sun as a harbinger of death. “...and me Swoop declare that he is going to probably like it even less in a micro second or two!”

Thankfully, Swoop’s demise by very big tank cannon was not fated to come to pass. From out of nowhere, a massive crimson form covered in spikes charged into the battlefield. A toothed maw let out a roar before a metallic tail slammed into Blitzwing sending him flying. He was grabbed by the jaws of Swoop’s savior before being thrown into the ground. Spiderweb cracks were now emanating out from where Blitzwing rested. Swoop looked up to see the massive form of Scorn, the Dinobot giving a gruff little nod before charging into the battlefield blaster fire bouncing off his metallic hide.

“And thank the Matrix for comrades…” Swoop uttered before re-entering the battlefield with a war cry. 

Scorn was a recent addition to the Dinobot ranks, along with another whom Wheeljack and Ratchet simply called Paddles. The two’s fossils had been found in two seperate locations, during two seperate little ventures around the world. Paddles’ plesiosaur base had been found in the Scottish highlands, while Scorn had been found in Egypt of all places. Both had been welcomed with open arms by their fellow Dinobots, mostly. They both had personality issues that prevented them from connecting fully with most of the group. Scorn was almost as battle hungry as Slag and Paddles at times seemed to be only slightly smarter than Sludge.

It seemed to be a bit of a curse to be a Dinobot at times. Swoop knew what his fellow Autobots thought of them at times. Dumb muscle and nothing else. This was, of course, only a half truth. Sure you had your Sludges and the like but then there were your Swoops and Grimlocks. Grimlock in particular, rebellious as he was, could be surprisingly smart. He had NOT been elected leader of the group for being simply the strongest. That's what he liked others to think. It made it far easier to catch everyone off guard and strike.

Speaking of Paddles, Swoop looked to his left to see Starscream swooping down for an attack run in some rare show of courage. However, what he most certainly did not expect was for the robotic plesiosaurus to leap out of the water and grab him by the wing in his jaws. Swoop had to laugh as the little weasel was tossed to the far end of the battlefield. Next, he then winced as he heard the sound of a loud crash. Sounded like he’d hit something even harder than him.

Good.

It should hopefully knock some sense into the traitorous little worm. The Dinobots valued loyalty above all else as mistreated as they were. Apart from Prime -bless his Spark, Swoop mused- and a few others most of the others thought them just taking up space. Swoop hoped one day Starscream would learn the value of loyalty. He doubted it but a bot could hope right? 

It wasn't a stretch of the imagination, Swoop thought to himself with a grimace, that one day Starscream and his backstabbing would one day catch up to him. He’d finally push himself and his luck too far and then Megatron would slag him good.

Skyfire had made it a point in teaching Swoop about Seeker Trines. They shared this… connection if you will. It was mystical in a lot of regards. While they didn't necessarily feel the other’s pains in the way say… a combiner team did it was still a close enough comparison. Swoop didn't have such luxuries being one of the only fliers on his side. And he certainly wasn't going to form a Trine with someone like Powerglide!

In any event that was neither here nor there. Swoop had more pressing matters to attend to. Like the battle raging on in his midst. Adjusting his rifle, Swoop frowned. Wasn't there a third Seeker? Thunder… something or other? Thunderclap? Thunderbird? Thunderbolt? Was that his name? No, Thundercracker! Yeah, that was his name. 

Swoop had always had to remind himself of Thundercracker’s name by thinking of that one human food chain that seemed to litter the South.

Thundercracker… Where was he? Maybe he hadn't been sent on this mission. It was possible, if not a bit unlikely given how the Trine always seemed to be together on any battlefield.

Watching Steeljaw erupt from Blaster’s chest and tackle the carbot Shadowstriker to the ground Swoop lined up his shot.

He fired, pressing the trigger and nailing the Decepticon known as Reflector in the knee. He saw the camera bot fall to the ground clutching his knee in pain. Blue energon pooled out to the ground nearby.

“Great shot Swoop!” Mirage called out with the Polyhexian giving him a grateful thumbs up. “You really saved my bacon right there!”

As I said before, not all of the Autobots treated the Dinobots like something they’d rather not consider. It sorta helped Swoop had saved Mirage’s life a few cycles back after a mauling by Razorclaw.

Being a medic had pushed Swoop’s standing up in the ranks a fair bit. After all, as everyone knew you did not tick off the one holding a scalpel. 

“...if only were it so easy to prove this to rest of Autobots…” Swoop sighed to himself. He soon regained his composure before chiding himself with a: “Look at you Swoop! Feeling sorry for yourself in the middle of battle! Him Ratchet and him Wheeljack would be so ashamed of you!”

A blast of sheer hot plasma flew by Swoop's head, Scorn forcing the enemy back with his power breath. “Like our own little robot Godzilla, him Scorn!” the Dinobot cheered him on.

If Scorn heard any of this he didn't really seem to pay it any mind. Or more accurately probably didn't care about it. The Dinobot lived for the battle. Swoop was just thankful he was on their side. In that respect Swoop supposed he couldn't entirely blame the others for distrusting his tribe. They had, after all, rebelled more than once.

Then he heard it. The sound of a horrific tremendous roar like all the storms in the world. He looked up, seeing a sickeningly familiar blue seeker flying right at him missiles at the ready. 

One fired just as Swoop took a shot. There was a horrific explosion and Swoop found himself thrown backwards. Then there was a crashing sound and Swoop slipped into unconsciousness…

\-----------

Ratchet supposed he should have seen this coming. In hindsight, he really should have. He’d heard the Dinobots be called practically every name in the book by this point. Stupid, idiotic, brainless, violent, etc… You get the general idea really. Most of the Dinobots, from what the Chief Medical Officer had seen for the most part ignored the insults. Slag picked a few fights with some, leaving Ratchet with an increased workload.

Though if you asked him if you were stupid enough to tick off the most hot-tempered of the Dinobots you probably deserved what was coming to you. Ratchet generally saved those patients for last. The other Dinobots generally ignored the insults, though Ratchet was never really sure if Sludge was intelligent enough to actually know what they meant. 

Swoop… he’d always been a different sort of bot, more sensitive than the rest. It still amazed Ratchet that five bots -soon to be seven- could turn out so differently. It also amazed Ratchet that his fellow Autobots could be so cruel. Sometimes he understood, with Decepticon groups like the Terrorcons and Predacons taking the form of ancient beasts from worlds beyond. War had a tendency of changing a mechanism, he remembered when Prowl wasn’t so cold and logical or when Wheeljack didn’t pour himself into his experiments.

Not for the first time, he cursed Megatron’s agenda in taking over the galaxy. Far had the mech from the Kaon Gladiatorial Pits turned Senator fallen indeed. He still had nightmares of one of Megatron’s soon to be most infamous quotes. It had been during the battle at the Stellar Galleries on Cybertron, soon after one Orion Pax had taken up the mantle of the Last Prime.

“So long as you stand in my way-so long as anyone stands in my way, I will respond by killing. Murder on an industrial scale. Because in the final analysis, I would happily wade across a river of corpses, chest-deep in rust and grease and engine oil, just to crush the spark of the last Autobot standing. And I would not do so simply as a means to an end. No. I'd do it, Prime, because it would give me pleasure.”

That was what he had said then. And ever since they’d been mopping up said grease and engine oil spilled by Megatron’s mad crusade. In any event, Ratchet had noticed a change in Swoop’s behavior over the past few cycles. He wasn’t sure what to make of it at first, ruling it as the possible Autobot version of depression. Made him want to slug someone, in spite of his Hippocratic Oath. He’d seen the dejected look on Swoop’s face when other Autobots had thrown his attempts to be friendly back in his face. Ratchet noticed this change in behavior all too easily, like any father would and should. He wondered what exactly was nagging at his creation’s processor. Then he found out. As apparently, Swoop had gotten an… idea.

“Are you absolutely sure about this?” Ratchet had to inquire. Truth be told, he wasn’t exactly… disapproving of the idea. He did need an extra hand or two around the base. Wheeljack was often preoccupied, and until the Protectobots arrived from Cybertron that meant he had very little help around the medical bay. 

“Me Swoop want to prove myself useful!” Swoop declared. “Me Swoop tired of seeing Dinobots looked down upon around base! And you Ratchet need all the help you can get!”

Here Swoop gestured to Cliffjumper, who was currently laying in stasis lock after a particularly nasty battle with the Decepticons. 

“Swoop, you must understand… being a medic is a calling, and once you decide to set out on that course… there’s no changing it. You can’t turn back. This is not something you just do to shove something back in your fellows’ faces,” Ratchet replied and looked at Swoop’s crestfallen expression. 

To his credit however, Swoop soon regained his resolve and didn’t look at all ready to back down. His stance was firm, and his optics gleamed with a sort of confidence Ratchet hadn’t seen in anyone since… well, himself. He’d never actually seen Swoop so firm and resolute in anything outside of a battle. Certainly rarely did Swoop ever stick up for himself.

“You Ratchet is right, being medic is no proving ground,” Swoop declared. “But me Swoop asks that you train me. You is also right in you Ratchet having very little help around here. And me Swoop also thought creator would listen to any concerns of Swoop’s without judgment.”

Ratchet looked at Swoop again and said with a soft smile: “You’re absolutely right. Also, if someone genuinely has the desire to be trained -and I can tell from one look at you that you do- I can’t just turn them away…”

Swoop smiled. He then noted the dangerous-looking expression on his creator’s face.

“...and in all honesty, I wouldn’t mind seeing a few of the other Autobots squirm myself. For all the insults they toss your way, it seems a few of them are the pot calling the kettle black as the humans like to say.”

Swoop gaped, he’d almost never heard Ratchet raise his voice against his fellow Autobots. Of course, Swoop was unaware of just how much Ratchet had seen and heard in his medical bay. One would be honestly surprised at how much certain Autobots liked to gossip to their physicist knowing what happened in the medical bay stayed in the medical bay. That is, unless you wanted a wrench or two thrown your way. And Ratchet was well known for his accuracy with wrenches. It was a common joke -obviously not told within earshot- that if Megatron himself was faced with a wrench welding Ratchet the war would be over within the hour. 

“So you Ratchet will train me Swoop?” the Dinobot asked hopefully.

Ratchet still continued to smirk dangerously. “Let’s just say the Ark isn’t going to know what hit it.”

\-----------

Swoop awoke with a groan, his processor aching with a sort of pain he was sure he would be feeling for a few odd decacycles. He looked around, and found himself at the bottom of a cliff in a very narrow box canyon. 

It was night now, so obviously a few hours had passed. That begged the question, just why hadn’t the other Autobots come to look for him? “Do they really… hate me Swoop that much?”

Swoop banished the thought as soon as it came. No, if anything they had probably got caught up in the battle for far too long and hadn’t even noticed Swoop going over the edge. And this certainly applied to Swoop’s fellow dinobots. Rule number one of being a Dinobot was to never give up on the rest of your tribe, as when the rest of the world was against you, you only had each other.

“Well, guess me Swoop will get nowhere if me Swoop doesn’t get a move on…” the Dinobot finally decided. Then he looked at his wing and winced, seeing it bent at this very unnatural angle.

“Right…” Swoop sighed to himself. “There goes that option… Me Swoop in a bind alright. Guess I will just have to ‘walk it off’ as the humans say and let internal repair systems do the work for me.”

Though how they could fix a wing that was bent out of shape like this was beyond him. Oh, who was he kidding himself? Swoop knew perfectly well it would have to be bent back into place via Autobot hands. He could hear Grimlock now.

“You Swoop idiot, not being aware of situation around you as you were!” 

Yeah, he could definitely hear Grimlock berating him for being such an idiot. Well, he’d certainly proved the misconception of the Dinobots being little more than stupid beasts right in a way today!

He then heard a whirring sound, and the distinctive hum of a rifle being charged up. Swoop felt cold metal being pressed up against his head. He sighed to himself, oh right. Now he remembered. He had managed to get off a shot at Thundercracker before he’d taken his little tumble.

“You should have checked to make sure if I was offline, Dinobot,” Thundercracker said in that usual smug elitist tone Swoop recognized. While it was no Starscream screech, it was still full of smug superiority that Decepticons seemed to have a knack for. “That’s surprising for a Dinobot, usually you don’t stop until we’re slag. Then again, I shouldn’t be all that surprised, mindless beasts as you are!”

“Me Swoop say you are as dumb as you claim me to be!” Swoop snarled definitely. “Me am not as much of a mindless beast as you think I am. For one, if you could have finished me off you would have done it long ago. Shot me and just flew. So why haven’t you?”

Thundercracker’s silence said it all. “...Oh, me Swoop see now. You’re like me, you can’t.”

“I was just playing possum! That’s all!” 

“Really?” Swoop questioned. “That seems unlikely, if you were to ask me. A smart Decepticon would just shoot me and run for it. Me Swoop always figured you Thundercracker a smart Decepticon.”

“I have some sense of honor, unlike my two fellow wingmates,” Thundercracker said. “This may be a war, but there’s no glory in shooting a helpless opponent!”

“So you wait instead for a few hours to finish me Swoop off?” Swoop asked. “You’re still not disproving my theory of you being stupid!”

Thundercracker let out a sigh. “...Okay, fine, you win,” he conceded. “Wing’s bent up all out of shape, and knee’s busted. I’m not going anywhere fast. So go on then, use that sword of yours. Turn me into Cesium Salami or whatever!”

“No, me Swoop will take the high road,” Swoop decided. “May be Swoop’s undoing as you will no doubt say to me at some future date, but me not want to finish off a similarly crippled opponent. Goes against me Swoop’s processor.”

“That, and you need my help to get out of here, right?” Thundercracker decided. “I’m no fool, and neither are you. You’re a pragmatic Dinobot, you’d be wise to take me on as an ally at least until we can reunite with our respective factions. You are thinking about this right?”

Thundercracker had a bad day, so even teaming up with one of those accursed Dinobots was preferable if it meant he could make it back home and to a nice hot oil bath. His first thought upon reawakening was this. “Man… what a hangover.”

He then looked up into the night sky and saw a familiar moon he’d come to know over these past cycles. Yeah, he was still on this wretched planet. It would have almost been preferable if he’d just joined the Allspark. Almost.

And only he would be so ‘fortunate’ to have been lying on his back in robot mode with a bent wing, and he suspected a broken leg as well. He only vaguely remembered what had happened. “Must have been one Primus of a party… No, wait, that’s not right. That’s not what happened… Yeah, I remember now. Slag. That blasted Dinobot… Oh, it was one pit of a skirmish!”

Starscream and Skywarp were probably laughing at him now, he just knew it. He sat up, looking for any enemies in the area. And he promptly regretted his actions almost in an instance. A wave of pain hit him, it was as if two gestalts had been dropped upon his head. His whole frame ached with pain. 

“Well buddy boy,” Thundercracker had said to himself then and there. “Looks like you’re going nowhere fast. Only you would use your sonic boom and then get shot down with your wing twisted like an accordion upon waking.” 

Slag this planet, he’d decided a long time ago. With a long, deep sigh, Thundercracker knew he was going to have to radio Decepticon headquarters for a pickup. He was just going to have to swallow his pride and bite the bullet. “Thundercracker to Soundwave, you there buddy? ...Listen, I’m sorta in a bit of a situation, so would you… um, mind if you keep quiet about this?”

He hated this. It was bad enough he’d been shot down by one of those accused beast bots but he couldn’t get home under his own power. And to add insult to injury, he was having to radio for help! He wasn’t going to be allowed to live this one down for a long time, that was for sure.

And yet there was nothing. No static, no white noise, no nothing. It was unnerving. That meant one of two possibilities, one Soundwave wasn’t listening or two -and more likely given his current state- the comms were busted until self repair systems kicked in.

Thundercracker shuddered as the full implications of this hit him. Help would not be coming any time soon. 

“Great…” Thundercracker said in a resigned tone knowing this was going to be one of THOSE nights. “...Just slaggin’ great.”

It was right about this moment when he spotted Swoop. He raised one of his arm cannons, knowing it would lessen his humiliation if he put a Dinobot down. Scrap, maybe even Megatron would reward him after tearing his aft a new one.

He couldn’t find it within himself to pull the trigger, really went against his own personal honor code to slag the defenseless. He was not Starscream, he was a better Decepticon than that. 

Truth be told, Thundercracker had been having doubts about the war for a while now. It had started out as a rise against a decedent council, and oppressive laws. What was it now? Thundercracker couldn’t say. He was just a simple Decepticon soldier, meant to follow orders.

Even if those orders were wrong, the Seeker mused to himself. Just last week after raiding a human power plant for fuel he and the Seekers had been ordered to bomb the place. No rhyme or reason for it, just a bombing run to leave no trace of the building. The humans… they hadn’t asked to have been dragged into this war. Believe it or not, Thundercracker would have rathered the Decepticons and Autobots followed the ancient laws of Cybertronian combat and fought their war on some uninhabited planet. 

“...Of course, Megatron in his megalomania wouldn’t have it. He wants to oppress now,” Thundercracker asked. “So what does that make me?”

He didn’t have an answer.

He mused once more on the fleshlings. “These creatures were never worthy adversaries. The Decepticons are forged through combat, not slaughter.”

And so that led him to his current predicament, holding a rifle to Swoop until he awoke and planning to take him by surprise. For what purpose, Thundercracker was unsure. It was hardly honorable. Plus, it didn’t change his situation in any event. No, something had to be done.

“You Swoop expect me to believe you?” Swoop asked, stunned. “No, you same as every other Decepticon!”

“Believe what you want Autobot, but that doesn’t change our situation… now does it?”

\-----------

“So why do you stay with the Autobots,” Thundercracker had to ask as Swoop helped the limping Seeker along. “I mean, it’s not like they actually like you.”

A faint pang filled the Seeker’s spark, not that the Decepticons did much to actually rectify that with their own Beastformers. Then again, why should they care about their enemies? Especially a group who had turned the tide time and time again and sending several mechs to the brink of death. 

“Me Swoop do question that times,” the Dinobot and medic in training admitted. “It… does hurt to admit you may have a point.”

Oh, he had heard his fair share of remarks from members of the Ark Crew who thought -or perhaps hoped- he wasn’t listening. He’d walked into more than his fair share of conversations where he’d caught the tail end of some cruel joke. He’d seen a few mechs back away in fear when he tried to approach them in a friendly manner.

“A Decepticon, having a point to an Autobot?” Thundercracker chortled. “Well, now I think I’ve heard just about everything!”

“You Thundercracker a real piece of work, you know that right?” Swoop countered.

“Me Thundercracker only just speaking truth!” the Seeker mocked in return. “Of course, such a dunce like you shouldn’t be able to understand that at all…”

And even as he said it, Thundercracker regretted it at once as he saw the flash of hurt in the younger mech’s optics. Swoop did understand. 

“You know nothing,” Swoop replied. “Me Swoop have half a mind to just leave you here and let you rust…”

“But that would go against your Hippocratic Oath, wouldn’t it?” Thundercracker countered. “You are a medic are you not?”

“Medic in training,” Swoop replied. “Now, you Thundercracker going to babble all the way out of this mess, or are you going to actually just shut up?”

“I’m amazed the Autobots are still standing,” Thundercracker mused. “I’ve been doing a bit of reading on Earth texts, and there’s this quote that stood out to me. “A house divided against itself cannot stand.”

Swoop blinked in surprise, he wasn’t aware that Thundercracker took any actual interest in Earth at all.

“Yeah yeah, I know,” Thundercracker grumbled. “But if I’m going to be stuck on this mudball for the foreseeable future I might as well learn a few things from it.”

“...Your point being?” Swoop asked.

“Carbots and Fliers, the young and the old, the beastformers and the non-beastformers. Cybertron is very… divided, or was or still is. I don’t know. At the very least, the Decepticons can claim to accept everyone!” Thundercracker said. “You Autobots, heroic as you are still can cling to some old beliefs.”

“The Decepticons no better!” Swoop countered. “You still hold onto the beliefs of Peace through Tyranny!”

“If we are made out to be devils, then… so be it,” Thundercracker ruminated though he didn’t sound as if he believed it. Looking at Swoop, the Seeker knew the dinobot had picked up on this. “...we started out on a crusade, at least Megatron did to bring order to Cybertron and do away with a classist system. You weren’t born on Cybertron, so you would never know how it was…”

“Me Swoop had heard enough about it, Nominus Prime -though he hardly deserves such titles!- thought your place should be dictated by your alt mode! The nerve of him. Leaders should inspire, not oppress!” the Dinobot growled.

“Megatron had the same ideas, you know…” Thundercracker replied.

“And look where he is now,” Swoop said in return. “A tyrant, the Great Slagmaker himself. Funny that.”

“In for a penny, in for a pound...” Thundercracker continued to ruminate. This was the heart of his troubles, now that he thought about it. Most of the Decepticons he knew, most of the ones he was friendly with were fervent supporters of Megatron’s cause… Slag, even his Trine mates Skywarp and Starscream were in support of the Decepticon ideology. Even if Starscream was… well, Starscream and would rather have himself in charge. Which would probably be a mild improvement.

Thundercracker had to fight back a laugh as he thought over the Aerial Commander trying to lead the Decepticons. ...Okay, maybe it wasn’t a mild improvement after all. The group would fall apart within a week! And that was probably being generous.

After listening to the many arguments of his comrades, at times Thundercracker was never sure quite what to think. He knew how it started, at the very least. Megatron had offered to the oppressed masses what they wanted, freedom and salvation. A chance to make their world something to be proud of. Thundercracker, not for the first time, made comparisons with certain human dictators.

Megatron often said things along the lines of: “...if you follow me, you reap the benefits.”

That was enough to win him a bunch of followers as you’d expect.

For a while, Thundercracker believed he was on the ‘right’ side of the conflict -like any soldier- and in some respects still did. But as time went on, he discovered that some Decepticons were just… there like the Constructicons . They really didn’t know what else to do or who to turn to. Thundercracker considered himself amongst those.

It was the same back and forth argument Thundercracker had for a while now. Was he trapped? Could he just up and leave his comrades any time he wanted? He honestly didn’t know. He had friends amongst the Decepticons but at the same time… the Decepticon cause had grown far from its original purpose. That much was obvious. 

Yes, he was trapped. The humans had a phrase for this he believed, they called it a ‘Morton's fork’ if he remembered correctly. Someone was proposed two alternatives. One, something bad happens or two something else happens but equally bad.

That very accurately described Thundercracker’s current situation. At the moment, Thundercracker would rather let himself be convinced what he was doing was ‘right’ even if his spark told him otherwise. Because simply put, he had nowhere else to go.

“You Thundercracker remind me of that character in that ancient text the humans call ‘Faust’, you being this Mephistopheles character. And me, of course, being the Faust in this scenario,” Swoop remarked. “You try to tempt me into evil, into fighting against own creators.”

That scared Thundercracker, as much as he hated to admit it, the Dinobot was right. The Dinobot had a point, what more could you say to that?

“You are like Megatron.” Swoop added and a sickening feeling filled Thundercracker’s tanks making him want to purge them entirely. Because once again, Swoop was absolutely right.

“...You’re a lot smarter than the Decepticons give you credit for…” Thundercracker uttered though he wasn’t sure if he’d been heard.

Evidently he had been.

“Me Swoop know,” the Dinobot replied and Thundercracker was certain the beast was smirking. “Me Swoop also know from the fact that because you didn’t shoot me, and the fact that you seem to have some sense of honor, me think you aren’t the best fit for the Decepticon cause.”

“What do you know?” Thundercracker sniped back. “You’re just an Autobot.”

“And a Medic,” Swoop replied. “So that means you pick up more things then you might expect. Medics are trained to listen to their patients, to pick up on anything we deem unusual. Even small utterings one hopes to go unheard.”

“...You’re a real pain the aft, you know that right?” Thundercracker sighed.

“You no angel yourself,” Swoop pointed out. “Me think you what humans term as a Tsundere!”

“WHAT!?!” Thundercracker gaped sounding a little bit too much like Starscream for his liking. “...That’s completely ridiculous. Completely and utterly ridiculous!”

“Swoop also know another human saying. Denial is not only river in Egypt.”

“...You know, with the benefit of hindsight,” Thundercracker sighed. “Trying to tempt you to the Decepticon side was a stupid-ass decision. You’re far too smitten with Earth.”

“Well, me Swoop did grow up here…” Swoop replied sounding rather smug again. “But you Thundercracker seem to be appropriating Earth for yourself, given you quote great American president Abraham Lincoln back then.” 

“Well, I will admit this planet does have its merits…” Thundercracker grumbled in defeat finally swallowing his pride. “Even if this mudball is still not worth all that much…”

“HAH! Me Swoop knew it!” the Dinobot cheered. “Me make an Autobot out of you yet!”

“Don’t push your luck, okay kid?” Thundercracker groaned. “As I said, I’m in for a penny, in for a pound by this point so I’m probably going to be a Decepticon if only in badge till the day I finally go offline.”

“But that just means Swoop will have to try even harder,” Swoop decided. “Call me stupid, but if that case me Swoop dare to be stupid! If anyone ever says me Swoop should ever give up hope on anything, me Swoop tell them otherwise. This includes you!”

Thundercracker was so tempted to just ask Swoop to offline him, so he’d be spared this Autobot’s ludicrous preachings. “...You sure you haven’t met the Mistress of Flame on Camius?” Thundercracker asked. “...sounds like you and her would probably get right along…”

“Me Swoop not understand why anyone would worship flame,” Swoop said. “Though me Swoop would not be remiss to admit that any Autobot swinging and throwing around fireballs as you seem to indicate sounds badass.”

“...Ugh, never mind…” Thundercracker decided. “It’s like preaching to the choir with you!”

For not the first time that night, Thundercracker wondered where in the Inferno his life had gone so wrong for him to end up being helped out of a canyon by a Dinobot of all things. Moreover, he was actually listening to what this idiot had to say! If Primus had finally developed a sense of humor then it certainly had been a fine time for him to choose to do so.

And then there were his thoughts about deserting the Decepticons. 

Thundercracker, if he needed a new cause he needed a new direction as well. Such a fine mess he’d found himself in. He was convinced, at least, that even if his beliefs no longer lined up with Megatron’s that he was still needed back at the Decepticon base. If only to keep his Trine mates from doing something monumentally stupid. 

He wondered what that said about him.

“Leave it to a trek with an Autobot in the middle of the night through the desert for you to suddenly start reflecting on your life…” he thought to himself.

Swoop for his part had been given plenty to think about. He really did think most of the Decepticons as ‘just the enemy’ and not much else. Maybe that was a sign of something. Maybe he really was that much of a stupid beast as certain Autobots liked to claim.

Swoop quickly dismissed these thoughts. No, he couldn’t let those words of scorn get to him. His creators, them Ratchet and Wheeljack would be ashamed of him. Prime may not be best leader, but he still set an example. He remembered a conversation once, between Hound and Cliffjumper.

“You just wanna die for the guy! That's leadership... or brainwashin', or somethin'.” Cliffjumper had said. 

Hound had only replied with this, and a simple smile.

“No... that's Optimus Prime.”

Swoop had to strive to live up to the example Optimus, to be a better Dinobot. 

“...Hey look, I think we made it,” Thundercracker said before he heard both the roar of twin jet engines and the sound of engines rumbling out across the desert. “...Imagine that…”

Starscream transformed and aimed his weapons at Swoop, but Thundercracker shook his head and looked at Swoop a mutual understanding passed between them. 

“Be warned Autobot,” Thundercracker said as Ratchet helped Swoop along giving the Seeker a dirty glare. “Next time we meet, it will be as enemies.”

“Me Swoop can wait for you to come around,” Swoop said. “Me like that.”

Both sides would ask questions for many cycles after this, but none would really guess at the true nature of what had gone on that night. And if Thundercracker and Swoop ever met on the battlefield again… well, whatever went on was their own personal secret.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so you can read this in so many ways. If you want to read it as a commentary on abusive relationships, you can. If you want to read it as a commentary on two deeply troubled characters with their own doubts and worries you can.
> 
> So much went into the making of this, such as The High Road by Nightwind over on Fanfic. Seriously, go check it out. The best fic I've ever seen about Thundercracker in ages.
> 
> So glad to get back into the swing of things with Transformers fics, it's been so long since I wrote about any of them. Like seriously, it has been. The last piece was a MLP crossover and that was soooooooooo all over the place at times with one two many characters for the sake of fan wanking. More subdued fics -for a given value of subdued- was a welcome change of pace. 
> 
> Please, Kudos and comments. I'd like to know what I did wrong, where I went right, etc...


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